Quick Facts
Biography
Magda Hagstotz (1914–2001) was a German painter and designer belonging to the post-war abstract art movement. Her major means of expression were watercolors and elaborately textured surfaces. She was a prolific artist and worked by preference small and medium sizes.
Life
Magda Hagstotz formed her convictions and got her influences in the late twenties and the early thirties. The theories of the Stuttgarter Schule – somewhat contesting the Bauhaus model - and contemporary artists such as Ida Kerkovius, Max Ackermann, Willi Baumeister, Oskar Schlemmer, Adolf Hölzel und Alfred Lörcher were sources for inspiration. As a consequence she attended the Würtembergischen Staatlichen Kunstgewerbeschule and learnt all aspects of the applied arts. The creative versatility thus acquired helped her to survive the war years thanks to her appointment as chief designer with a reputed leather manufacturer. Her multi-faceted artistic achievement shows a marked craft influence explained by her career as designer of textiles. After the war, her artistic talent and ambitions got more headroom and the road to recognition was opened.
1930 to 1933 Studies at the Wurt. Staatl. Kunstgewerbeschule, Stuttgart
1932 Reimannschule Berlin
1934 England, London, Studies
1935-1937 Textiles studies
1938 to 1943 Kunstakademie Stuttgart
1943 to 1945 under G. Biese, The nude form, Composition
1941 to 1962 Designer with colored-leather manufacturer Pfennig u. Co.; Ludwigsburg; Golden medal Milano Triennial
Independent artistic activity from 1941 onwards
Numerous acquisitions by private collectors and institutions